Conifers are a group of cone-bearing seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the division Pinophyta, also known as Coniferophyta or Coniferae. The division contains a single extant class, Pinopsida. All extant conifers are perennial woody plants with secondary growth. The great majority are trees, though a few are shrubs. Examples include cedars, Douglas-firs, cypresses, firs, junipers, kauri, larches, pines, hemlocks, redwoods, spruces, and yews. As of 1998, the division Pinophyta was estimated to contain eight families, 68 genera, and 629 living species.
The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, are a system of mountains in eastern to northeastern North America. The Appalachians first formed roughly 480 million years ago during the Ordovician Period. They once reached elevations similar to those of the Alps and the Rocky Mountains before experiencing natural erosion. The Appalachian chain is a barrier to east–west travel, as it forms a series of alternating ridgelines and valleys oriented in opposition to most highways and railroads running east–west.
Liriodendron tulipifera—known as the tulip tree, American tulip tree, tulipwood, tuliptree, tulip poplar, whitewood, fiddletree, and yellow-poplar—is the North American representative of the two-species genus Liriodendron, and the tallest eastern hardwood. It is native to eastern North America from Southern Ontario and possibly southern Quebec to Illinois eastward to southwestern Massachusetts and Rhode Island, and south to central Florida and Louisiana. It can grow to more than 50 m (160 ft) in virgin cove forests of the Appalachian Mountains, often with no limbs until it reaches 25–30 m (80–100 ft) in height, making it a very valuable timber tree. The tallest individual at the present time (2021) is one called the Fork Ridge Tulip Tree at a secret location in the Smokey Mountains of North Carolina. Repeated measurements by laser and tape-drop have shown it to be 191' 10" in height. It is the tallest tree in eastern North America.
The longleaf pine is a pine species native to the Southeastern United States, found along the coastal plain from East Texas to southern Virginia, extending into northern and central Florida. It reaches a height of 30–35 m (98–115 ft) and a diameter of 0.7 m (28 in). In the past, before extensive logging, they reportedly grew to 47 m (154 ft) with a diameter of 1.2 m (47 in). The tree is a cultural symbol of the Southern United States, being the official state tree of Alabama. Contrary to popular belief, this particular species of pine is not officially the state tree of North Carolina.
Pinus strobus, commonly denominated the eastern white pine, northern white pine, white pine, Weymouth pine (British), and soft pine is a large pine native to eastern North America. It occurs from Newfoundland, Canada west through the Great Lakes region to southeastern Manitoba and Minnesota, United States, and south along the Appalachian Mountains and upper Piedmont to northernmost Georgia and perhaps very rarely in some of the higher elevations in northeastern Alabama. It is considered rare in Indiana.
Pinus virginiana, the Virginia pine, scrub pine, Jersey pine, is a medium-sized tree, often found on poorer soils from Long Island in southern New York south through the Appalachian Mountains to western Tennessee and Alabama. The usual size range for this pine is 9–18 m, but can grow larger under optimum conditions. The trunk can be as large as 20 inches diameter. This tree prefers well-drained loam or clay, but will also grow on very poor, sandy soil, where it remains small and stunted. The typical life span is 65 to 90 years.
The scuppernong is a large variety of muscadine, a species of grape native to the Southern United States. It is usually a greenish or bronze color and is similar in appearance and texture to a white grape, but rounder and larger and first known as the 'big white grape'. The grape is commonly known as the "scuplin" in some areas of the Deep South. It is also known as the "scufalum", "scupanon", "scupadine", "scuppernine", "scupnun", or "scufadine" in some parts of the South. The scuppernong is the state fruit of North Carolina.
Laura Ives Wiley is a former member of the North Carolina House of Representatives, and a current member of the University of North Carolina Board of Governors. A Republican, she represented the state's 61st legislative district, which at the time encompassed southwestern Guilford County, a majority of the city of High Point, the town of Jamestown, and the unincorporated area of Sedgefield. She was first elected to the North Carolina General Assembly in 2004 after defeating eight-term Republican incumbent Steve Wood in a primary election. Wiley won an uncontested race in 2006, and defeated primary challenger George Ragsdale in 2008. She chose not to run for re-election in 2010 and is now retired from elected public office. She remains active in political and community activities, serving on The War Memorial Foundation Board of Directors, the High Point Housing Authority Board of Commissioners, and the Senior Resources of Guilford Board of Directors. In March 2013 she was appointed by the North Carolina House of Representatives to serve a four-year term on the Board of Governors of the University of North Carolina system. In September 2016, she was named to The Order of the Long Leaf Pine, which is among the most prestigious awards presented by the Governor of North Carolina. The Order of the Long Leaf Pine is presented to individuals who have a proven record of extraordinary service to the state.
Pinus monophylla, the single-leaf pinyon, is a pine in the pinyon pine group, native to North America. The range is in southernmost Idaho, western Utah, Arizona, southwest New Mexico, Nevada, eastern and southern California and northern Baja California.
The Atlantic coastal pine barrens is a now rare temperate coniferous forest ecoregion of the Northeast United States distinguished by unique species and topographical features, generally nutrient-poor, often acidic soils and a pine tree distribution once naturally controlled by frequent fires.
The Order of the Long Leaf Pine, created in 1964, is an honor that can be granted in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of 2021, it was believed the Order had been awarded to more than 21,000 people.
Torreya taxifolia, commonly known as the stinking-cedar or Florida torreya, but also sometimes as gopher wood or Florida nutmeg, is an endangered tree of the yew family, Taxaceae, found in the Southeastern United States, at the state border region of northern Florida and southwestern Georgia.
Gordonia lasianthus is a small to medium-sized evergreen tree or shrub found in acidic, swampy soils of pinelands and bays on the Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plains of the southeastern United States. It is a member of the tea or family Theaceae. It is slow growing with soft, light-colored, fine-grained wood of little commercial value, although loblolly-bay could be managed as a source of pulpwood. When older specimens are cut, the wood exudes a strong scent. It is similar to a mixture of fresh oranges and pine sap. The bark of the adult tree varies from medium grey to a red brown coloration. Dead adult specimens of loblolly bay exhibit a lustrous shine when exposed to sunlight for several years. The white showy flowers and shiny foliage make it a desirable ornamental, but it is not easy to cultivate. Deer browse stump sprouts heavily.
Bladen Lakes State Forest (BLSF) is a North Carolina state forest near Elizabethtown, North Carolina, USA. It is managed by the North Carolina Forest Service. Covering about 32,950 acres (13,330 ha), it is the largest state owned forest in North Carolina. Bladen Lakes comprises three parcels of land and has a total of eight compartments. Adjoining the forest are Turnbull Creek Educational State Forest, Jones Lake State Park and Singletary Lake State Park. The vast majority of the forest is in the Game Lands Program, which is administered by the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission. There are several safety zones where hunting is prohibited or restricted.
Leslie J. Winner is a North Carolina attorney and former executive director of the Winston-Salem-based Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation. At the time of her selection to succeed Thomas W. Ross at the foundation, Winner was general counsel and vice president for the University of North Carolina system.
Sabal palmetto, also known as cabbage palm, cabbage palmetto, sabal palm, blue palmetto, Carolina palmetto, common palmetto, Garfield's tree, and swamp cabbage, is one of 15 species of palmetto palm. It is native to the Southern United States, as well as Cuba, the Turks and Caicos Islands, and the Bahamas.
"The Old North State" is the official state song of the U.S. state of North Carolina. Written by William Gaston in 1835 and set to an arrangement composed by Mrs. E.E. Randolph in 1926, it was adopted as the state song by the North Carolina General Assembly in 1927.
Bonnie Ethel Cone was an American educator best known as the founder of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
Philip F. Gura is an intellectual and cultural historian. He currently serves as William S. Newman Distinguished Professor of American Literature and Culture at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he holds appointments in the Departments of English and Comparative Literature, Religious Studies, and American Studies.
